Leslie John Griffiths, Baron Griffiths of Burry Port, (born 15 February 1942) is a Methodist

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

 minister and life peer

Life peer

In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...

 in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

, where he sits with the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

.

Griffiths became a local preacher

Methodist local preacher

A Methodist local preacher is a lay person who has been accredited by a Methodist church to lead worship on a regular basis. Local preachers play an important role in the Methodist Church of Great Britain and other churches historically linked to it, and have also been important in English social...

 in the Methodist Church of Great Britain

Methodist Church of Great Britain

The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...

 in 1963. He completed a Master of Arts in Theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

Fitzwilliam College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge in England.The college traces its origins back to 1869 and the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer students from less financially privileged backgrounds a chance to study...

 in 1969. He spent most of the 1970s serving the Methodist Church of Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

, where he was ordained, before returning to Britain to serve in ministries in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 and Golders Green

Golders Green

Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...

. In 1987 Griffiths completed a PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 from the School of Oriental and African Studies

School of Oriental and African Studies

The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...

, University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

. He served as President of the Methodist Conference from 1994 to 1995.

Since 1996 he has been Superintendent Minister at Wesley's Chapel

Wesley's Chapel

Wesley's Chapel is a chapel in London which was built by the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. The site also is now both a place of worship and a visitor attraction, incorporating the Museum of Methodism and John Wesley's House...

, London. He was created Baron Griffiths of Burry Port, of Pembrey

Pembrey

Pembrey is a village in Carmarthenshire Wales, situated between Burry Port and Kidwelly, overlooking Carmarthen Bay.-History:The name Pembrey is an Anglicisation of the Welsh, Pen-bre...

 and Burry Port

Burry Port

Burry Port is a small town five miles outside the larger centre of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the Loughor estuary. The town's population is roughly 8,000 although in the 2001 census there were 4209 residents....

 in the County of Dyfed

Dyfed

Dyfed is a preserved county of Wales. It was created on 1 April 1974 under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972, and covered approximately the same geographic extent as the ancient Principality of Deheubarth, although excluding the Gower Peninsula and the area west of the River Tawe...

 in 2004.

On 20 August 2009 Griffiths published an article in the 'Methodist Recorder' outlining a prospective plan for his 'conditional ordination' by the Bishop of London

Bishop of London

The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...

, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres

Richard Chartres

Richard John Carew Chartres KCVO FSA is the current Bishop of London, a position he has held since 1995. Before this appointment, he was Bishop of Stepney and Gresham Professor of Divinity .-Early life:...

. The plan was the subject of detailed discussion at the Methodist Conference (sitting in closed session) in 2008 and 2009 and the Conference withheld consent for this move.Methodist Recorder